nanwen-

verb. to return, go/come back

A verb for “return, go/come back” in notes from around 1959, a combination of √NDAN “back” with √MEN “go” (PE17/166), where ancient nm became nw.

Conceptual Development: Quendian & Common Eldarin Verbal Structure (EVS1) from the 1940s had a similar (probably archaic) past tense form ᴹQ. ndanne “went back” based directly on √NDAN “back” as part of the phrase á e·ndanne anda né “oh! he went back long ago” (PE22/96), possibly from an unattested verb nan- “go back”.

Neo-Quenya: In a 2024-09-16 conversation on the Vinyë Lambengolmor Discord Server (VLDS), Luinyelle suggested that nan- might mean “retreat, give way, revert, ebb” based on later verbal glosses of its roots √NDAN “retreat, go back, give way (as one advances), revert” (VT48/32). If so, these two verbs could coexist with nanwen- meaning “go back = return to somewhere you’ve been before”, as opposed to nan- = “go back = go backwards, not necessarily to a prior position”. I would also assume nanwen- “return = go back” differs from nantul- “return = come back” in that nantul- implies return to the position of the speaker, whereas nanwen- could be return to the original position of the listener.